6 August, Friday — Thomas Day at Bo’Ness Steam Railway
What else can I say? Some things are meant to be. Bo’Ness
Steam Railway had their “Thomas Day” on
this day, the day we were supposed to be leaving Scotland. So we delayed and our two families went. Great to have Caroline’s dad with us: Andrew Lumsden is a wonderful, dry, funny
character to have around. We made the
most of the whole day; trip on the train, Steam Railway Museum,
Clay Mine tour,
and much more.
7—9 August, Saturday to Monday —
Castle Holgate and Mini-NCR Reunion
We left Scotland and
said our goodbyes. I even managed to
stop and say hello to the parents of my school friend, Gary Marshall. I had not see Ian and Doreen Marshall in many
years, so I was glad I stopped by chance to knock on the door. They live round the corner from my folks’
house, and my friends and I spent most of our teenage nights there playing pool
and swapping music.
Even though, this was the
longest drive of our holiday, the journey down was pretty easy, thanks to our
easy-going, traveling elves. So, we
arrived at Christian’s in good time.
Unfortunately, he had problems of his own, due to a burst water pipe. So, while Emma Holgate wielded the spanner,
we went out with our former colleagues to get pissed and have a curry. Christian Holgate
is one of the funniest men I know, and I used to work with him at NCR in London. When he heard I was coming over, he
organized some of the boys to come over (from London,
Tokyo—that kind
of thing) and reminisce. And eat curry.
And drink ale. It was perfect. Many
thanks to the boys; Christian, Colin, Ali, Rupert, Duncan.
Our kids bonded well with
Lucy and Holly Holgate. Sunday was a rest day, where we could enjoy our
families—while Emma wielded the spanner to fix the water. Lucy looked in her element, confidently
organizing sack races for the 4 other wains. When we left on the Monday, it was a sad
goodbye.
9-10 August, Monday, Tuesday — Ian and Joan Thomson in Cheltenham
Uncle Ian is my Mum’s
brother. Whereas Mum married a Gloucester man (Dad) and stayed in Scotland, Ian married a Gloucester
lady (Auntie Joan) and stayed in Gloucester! Despite the fact that Joan has just had a
back operation, they both looked younger than when I saw them in 2002!! Some folk simply get better with age. After a
hectic couple of days, this was a wonderful rest time. My cousin, Katrina was there,
and I was overjoyed to see her and catch up.
The kids loved Ian and
Joan’s dog, Jess. We have been lucky
with dogs the last couple of days. Hang
on, I’ll tell you what I mean: Phoebe,
Callum and Brodie have had a lot of frights from dogs when we’ve gone for walks
in the forest by Christchurch. So, between Christian’s big friendly dogs,
and Jess, we are starting to make progress in the kids overcoming that fear.
10-11 August, Tuesday, Wednesday — Bill and Gwen in Wales
My Dad’s sister married a
Welshman, and stayed in Wales. This is my Uncle Bill and Auntie Gwen. Like Uncle Ian and Auntie Joan, my brothers
and I have many fond memories, growing up with our Welsh family. As well as catching up with cousins Nick (who
now lives in NZ!) and Keri, we were actually rested enough to try some tourism:
Ogmore Castle
was exactly the kind of Castle we had been looking for, for the kids; ruined and with free entry!! They had a marvelous time running around this
ancient playground. I was proud of
Phoebe asking the right questions; “who built it, how old is it, why is it
ruined?” Etc…! Sad goodbyes again, but I’m looking forward
to clinking glasses (not spectacles) with cousin Nick when he comes back to
NZ. Thanks Nick and Keri, for driving us
out of deepest, darkest Aberdare.
Before we hit Wales, we made a small detour to Swindon on the Tuesday (10th) to meet up with Stuart and Eugenie. Stuart Dredge is the son of my cousin
Lyndsay, and Stu and Eugenie endeared themselves famously when they stayed with
us in NZ. They now have a beautiful
one-year-old daughter, Eve, whom we met for the first time today.
11-13 August, Wednesday to Friday — Fred and Sue in Cirencester
Historic Cirencester. Once Corinium, the major road junction in
Roman Britain. However, Fred and Sue were
much more important than all that old rubbish.
Fred is the elder cousin, even though he has a youth and energy that we
should all learn from. Fred and Sue swept us in and rested us—again. In 1998 when we visited, we came up with the
names “Phoebe” and “Callum” (yup!). When we visited again in 2003, we emptied
Fred’s wine cellar and danced on his furniture.
Thankfully, Fred’s collection remained intact this time—we must be
getting old. Although we imbibed, we
also walked around this beautiful town for the first time. I completely
understand why Fred and Sue live
here. Thank you for taking care of
us!! Karyn, the kids and I had a
wonderful time. Thank you also for
posting Callum’s “Shark” on. It is a
precious cuddly toy, and one of his entourage.
13-15 August, Friday to Sunday — Richard and Jane in Thame
I used to work with both Jane
and Richard
Mather in BT
Conferencing, in London. They now live in the restful village of Thame, not unlike Cirencester. Richard did a marvelous job of rounding up
the old ex-BT Conferencing friends for a massive BBQ: Simon and Karen Grumbt
and Chris Flynn. Pretty impressed with
Richard’s “John Holmes”-brand BBQ—you are a man, my son!! What was lovely about meeting Leanne,
Chris’s wife, is that I was “exactly how Chris described.” Believe it or not, that was a good
thing! Richard and Jane have carved out
a wonderful life for their family, very similar to ours in Parklands. So, it was not unsurprising that all the
littlies got on, as well as we did with Richard and Jane’s peers in Thame. Big
“Hi” to Mark and Caroline in Thame.
Thanks to Mark for his Home Cinema Demo. I now have ideas……!!!!
On our last day in
Oxfordshire, we went to the amazing Bekonscot
Model Village. I can’t say
any more apart from, “Check out the website,
and have a look at the photos of it, which are on our Facebook
pages.” .
15-17 August, Sunday to Tuesday — Jo and Dave Gillam in Crawley
Jo and Dave are ANOTHER
couple who married as a result of working together at in BT Conferencing. More
importantly, Jo was my flatmate in Ickenham, and it was her act of moving in that
allowed me to meet my wife-to-be. Jo
introduced Karyn and I. Well, Jo and
Dave thoroughly turned up trumps today. They completely moved their bedrooms
around, to fit us in. We had a warm
sunny day for Godstone Farm,
a recreational farm. See the photos,
especially Jo’s large
find…...
16-17 August, Monday, Tuesday — London and
Last Days in the UK
I hadn’t seen Neil Stevens in 12
years, another of my close friends from NCR. I do miss my English whisky buddy. There was
only one night to see him, and Karyn said, “You’ve got to go. You’ve can’t miss him this time.” So, I dumped the wife and kids in Crawley for
a night in London
with Neil. After a suitable few ales to
warm up, we had the obligatory curry. It was marvelous. After a stint in his stunning Gentleman’s
Club (hah!), we finished up a late night with a few whiskeys back at his
apartment. A V2 narrowly missed a The
Club in WWII, and I bet that’s not it’s only dark story …..! It was wonderful to finally meet his better
half, Michelle.
After crashing at Neil’s,
and with a whisky-hangover (oof!) I pushed forward to our final day in the UK. London
is still busy and amazing. Karyn and I
met up with her cousin Sally. Sally’s
daughter Olivia was a just a toddler when Sally left NZ, but today, she was a
young tourist tackling HMS
Belfast with the rest of us!!
Talk about tough kids!! HMS
Belfast is the last of the Big Gun Cruisers, moored as a spectacular permanent
museum on the River Thames. Wonderful seeing Sally. She was on form, and we do miss her, back in
NZ.
My brother Phil turned
up trumps to meet us off the HMS Belfast, to spend the last few hours with
us. I really appreciated that, but not
half us much as my kids, who loved to see their Uncle Phil on last time…..
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